On Tuesday, I was running a little behind, but I managed to write a haiku about writing a haiku while eating a quick breakfast. I decided to use the last line of this haiku as the first line on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, I was running a lot behind. It was 7:00am and I hadn't started writing yet, hadn't showered, hadn't packed my lunch. I need to be out the door by 7:45 to be on time for work, so it's a good thing I had the first line of my haiku ready to go.

Thursday morning I was exhausted. I had rolled-cut-baked cookies the night before for hours and hours after an already long day at work. All I could think of was the first morning of break when I wouldn't have to set my alarm. Even though I was tired, I was pretty thrilled to find an image of a clock that really goes with my haiku!

Today, I was able to weave our current studies in science into a haiku that describes both what it's like to be a fifth grader learning about the movements of the earth around the sun (rotation/revolution; day, night, seasons) AND what this week's been like for me. Our heads are all spinning for some reason or another!

I just love this. I feel like my head is spinning from the everything-to-do-on-my-list syndrome. I had a student who once wrote a series of haiku like this, using the last word as the first word. I like this idea. It not only hastens the work. It's a good craft move.

You sure illustrate the old saw: "When there's a will, there's a way." And these are very fun, as is your description of how they came about. You're inspiring me to plan something like this for the new year.

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About Us

Franki and Mary Lee are both teachers, and have been for more than 20 years.

Franki is a fifth grade teacher. She is the author of Beyond Leveled Books (Stenhouse), Still Learning to Read (Stenhouse), Day-to-Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop (Scholastic) and The Joy of Planning (Choice Literacy). She is also a regular contributor to Choice Literacy.

Mary Lee is a fifth grade teacher. She is the author of Reconsidering Read-Aloud (Stenhouse) and has poems in the Poetry Friday Anthology, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Science, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations (Pomelo Books), Dear Tomato: An International Crop of Food and Agriculture Poems, National Geographic Books of Nature Poems, The Best of Today's Little Ditty (2014-15 and 2016), and Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's Poems are Teachers.